Influential Voices of Authority

Whether you are brand new, or you've been publishing for years, we are all looking for audience growth. Unfortunately, few of us have a strategy. We are just trying random things and gaining no traction. CLEANING I was cleaning the basement the other day. After hours of work, it looked like I had done nothing. We collect everything down there. The basement is where everything goes when we don't have a place to put it. We have a pool table down there that doubles as a ping pong table. The table came from some friends that just wanted it out of their basement. I quickly learned why. The table has now become the place where my son does his school work … and sorts his baseball cards … and leaves his spare hockey gear. My office space is down there. We have book shelves and storage shelves and a couch where we go when tornado warnings fire up. One day, I decided to clean the basement. I started putting a stack of books on the book shelves. That's when I realized some of my hockey coaching material was on one of the shelves. That belonged in binders in my office space. While I was putting the hockey stuff away, I noticed I had some podcast notes in a stack on my desk. I started getting that squared away. On my desk was a shoebox I was using when I was recording a video. I took the shoebox over to the baseball cards where it belonged. Next thing I know, I am arranging the baseball cards on the pool table. My son had a few jerseys on the table that got taken to the laundry room. This went on for hours. When I finally stepped back to admire my work, it didn't even look like I had been there. There was no change. Why? I had no plan. My work wasn't focused. I needed to work on one area until it was done. INTENTIONAL Be intentional to grow your audience and get people to listen. Create a plan and stick to it. What activities will bring in new listeners if you do those activities on a consistent, regular basis? About a year ago, I joined JV Insider Circle and my podcast took off. JVIC connects you with people who run podcasts, radio shows, tele-summits and live events. Members of this community have large lists in your target market. You can find details on JVIC at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/JVIC. By attending the bi-weekly calls and various virtual events they hold, I met a variety of influencers who were talking to my potential audience. I started participating on their summits and in their giveaways. They had me on their podcasts and you've heard a few of them here. Next thing I know, my audience was growing by leaps and bounds. I simply focused on this strategy and took regular action. Instead of trying everything, find two or three things that you enjoy doing, will get you in front of new listeners and you can and will do on a regular basis. Then, focus on those actions for a month. See where it takes you. CONTENT Before you invite people to your party, make sure you've cleaned the house. The first thing you need to do is make sure your content is solid and entertaining. Ask yourself if you would listen to your show if it wasn't your show. Oscar spent the first year of his podcast interviewing other people. His show wasn't growing or driving his business. He came to me for some help. We restructured his show to highlight his expertise. The show still included other experts. However, we created space specifically for Oscar to talk about what he did and the service he provide. After we got the show working, we started inviting people to the party. That's when his audience began to grow. Tighten up your content before you bring more listeners to the show. You only get one shot at a great first impression. NEW AUDIENCE Once your content it tight, go get in front of new people. You can't grow your audience until you find people who are not yet aware of you and your show. As we discussed, JVs are a great way to find new listeners. You can also be present in social groups. You can appear on podcast interviews. People can discover you on summits. There are many ways you can get in front of people. Find the activities you love and will commit to doing consistently. Again, you can check out www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/jvic to learn about finding joint venture partners. INVITATION Once you get in front of a new pool of potential listeners, invite them to listen. So many people get interviewed or get on a stage in front of an audience and forget to tell people to listen. If your goal is audience growth, ask people to listen to your show. Tell them where to find you and why they will love the show. REASONS Telling people to listen isn't enough. You need to give them a specific reason to listen. Why will they love it? When you ask people to listen, give them a specific episode that they will love. If you have interviewed someone special or taugh something really cool, send them to that episode. Asking people to check out a generic show will give you a few listeners, but not great growth. Telling them why they will love your episode that was downloaded more than any other episode will bring people in. Remember, they are asking, "What's in it for me?" Give them a reason. REMIND THEM Getting them to listen isn't enough for audience growth. You need to bring them back episode after episode. Remind your listeners to come back using your e-mail list and social media. Stay top of mind so the new listeners add to your current listeners. If your current listeners are leaving, you do not achieve audience growth. You maintain. New listeners are just replacing old listeners. Give your current listeners a reason to come back next week by teasing effectively. Create some fear of missing out. YOUR PLAN This week, get to working on your audience growth plan. Start small with a plan that you can stick with. Do the work consistently and watch your audience grow. Next week, we will talk about ways to use events to create audience growth. Events are coming back. Let's be strategic to use these events in the best way. You'll get a bunch of ideas for your plan next week. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

If you share your info and expertise on your podcast, coaching is a great way to turn your podcast into a coaching business. To be a successful coach, you need to be able to get your clients from point A to point B. People pay coaches who can create a transformation in their lives. The most effective way to do this is to find people who are following your journey but are a few years or steps behind you. Help them take your journey by avoiding the pitfalls and mistakes you made. DEMONSTRATE Your podcast provides you a great opportunity to demonstrate your coaching. It allows you to show listeners the transformation they can experience. On your episodes, you can interview those you've helped. You can help potential clients. The episodes can simply be sharing your plan and process and offering to help people through your coaching business. STRATEGY CALL Invite your listeners to have a strategy or discovery call with you. On these calls, define their goals. Where do they want to be in one or three or five years? Next, determine where they are now. What have they tried that has worked? What hasn't worked? Now, what needs to happen to get from today to their goals? Develop that plan with them. Use a phrase like, "It sounds like if we do this, we can accomplish that." The two of you develop the plan together. They are part of the process to get to the solution. Once that plan is developed, ask if they would like some help implementing it. If they do, you can then discuss the options within your coaching business. That's it. PAYMENT For payment, they can simply send you money via PayPal or Venmo or some other service. You don't need a complicated backend system. My first client in my coaching business sent me a money order. PARTNERS Once your strategy calls are working, find partners who can get you in front of more potential clients. That is what our interview today is all about. Bill Pratt is the host of the 3-day live, online event CoachingBizCon. He is also a college professor, business and money coach, textbook author, and professional speaker. Bill has been interviewed on countless media and was featured on a twice-monthly TV program called Money Matters. He works with industry influencers including Jay Shetty and Rob Goyette. He believes that with the right information, people will accumulate wealth faster and will be able to use that wealth to improve the lives of those around them. Bill's event Coaching Biz Con can help you find JV partners to grow your coaching business. You can check out Coaching Biz Con at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/bizcon. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

If you are like me, you have been working diligently on your podcast, writing your show notes and sharing your content. You now have a stack of episodes sitting there getting the occasional download. Have you ever thought that you could turn your podcast into a book? Repurposing your content across various platforms allows you to be seen everywhere without multiplying the amount of work you are doing. Creating the content is the part that takes the time. Creation takes the mental power. The editing and rewrites eat your time. Sharing the content can be turned into a system and checklist. You can make it an efficient process and multiply your impact. As you repurpose your content, make sure you have a strategy. Decide where your content will send your listeners. Develop a strong call-to-action as you begin to be seen everywhere. Let's talk about 6 different ways you can take an episode and repurpose it across multiple platforms. VIDEO Start with video. This is the format that takes the most time and makes it possible to use this across many platforms. This doesn't need to be highly produced. You can simply shoot video of your recording your show. Add some graphics if you'd like to spice it up a bit. YouTube is the obvious place for your video. You can also use that video on your website, social media and newsletter. Share it. AUDIO You can strip the audio from the video for your podcast. No need to rerecord it. If you don't start with video, you can simply start at this point and record your show. Either works. When you record on Zoom, the platform will record both video and audio. This makes it easy to use it on both platforms. Many audio editing software programs will allow you to import the video and it will strip the audio for you. It makes it easy to repurpose your video without recording it a second time. BLOG Now that you have your show recorded, you can turn the notes into a blog post. Your show notes can be posted on your website as a blog post. Build it out so your notes are more than an outline. Add some meat to the bone. The other option is to have your show transcribed. There are various services that will do this using automation. This choice takes a little proofreading and editing on your part. You could also hire a virtual assistant who can transcribe the show for you. Either way, this gives you a lot of written content you can share elsewhere. SOCIAL Now that you have video, audio and text, you can share bits of it on social media. You can use clips of your video and audio on social. Your blog post and show notes can be turned into graphics and posts. EMAIL Your show notes can be used for your daily emails. Sending an email everyday doesn't guarantee your list will read every email. What it does mean is that your list will see your name every day. They may only read the subject lines that connect with them. But, they will see your email in their inbox each day. Frequency to the target keeps you top of mind. I was concerned that a daily email would cause people on my list to unsubscribe. Very few unsubscribed. Those that stayed were more engaged. PARTNERS As you create this great content, find partners who can use your stuff. Find other content creators who could use a bit of your content on their platform. Maybe an online magazine could use a bit of your content as an article in their content. A podcaster could use a segment of your show as part of their show. Find content creators who talk to your niche and create a partnership. PLAN As you create this content across various platforms, be sure to have a strong call-to-action. What do you want your audience to do? Your content could send your audience to your website, your lead magnet or your discovery call. Have a unified plan. When all of your content leads your audience to the same place, your maximize the impact your content can have. BOOK Now that you have multiple episodes, you can take all of that content and aggregate it into a book. Group your episodes into similar topics. Turn these groups into chapters. Find an overarching theme and create your book. Now that theory sounds easy. But, it's a little more challenging than that. Today, we have an amazing expert who can help us with the process. Dan Janal works with business owners and professionals who want to elevate their reputations and set themselves apart from their competition by writing a book. As a book coach, developmental editor, and ghostwriter, Dan shapes stories and strategies that can transform a career or business. Dan has written more than a dozen books that have been translated into six languages. His latest book is Write Your Book in a Flash. He also hosts a podcast, "Write Your Book in a Flash with Dan Janal", where he interviews subject matter experts who have written books. Thinkers360.com named the show one of the top 50 podcasts for thought leaders. He's a former award-winning daily newspaper reporter and business editor. Dan has interviewed President Gerald Ford and First Lady Barbara Bush. Dan is an award-winning daily newspaper reporter and business newspaper editor who excels in making difficult concepts easy to understand. Today, Dan is going to show us the benefits of a book, how you can find a ghostwriter and how he uses his podcast to drive his business. You can grab his free gift "How To turn Your Podcast Into A Book" at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/flash. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

As you create your podcast, is it better to do an interview or a solo show? You might consider co-hosts. Should you have segment contributors? It all comes down to preference. There are benefits to each. We will cover those today. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS If you perform an interview on your show, you need to grab my list of 17 Most Powerful Podcast Inteview Questions Ever. You can download the full list at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/interview. This list can be customized for any niche or guest. It will help you create more powerful interviews that will have your guests saying, "Wow, nobody has asked me that before." You will create a unique, engaging interview that doesn't sound like everyone else. Grab it at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/interview. STRUCTURE There are various ways you can structure your podcast. A few ways include a solo show, an interview, co-hosts, and crowdsourced. Let's talk about each one to identify the benefits and drawbacks of each. SOLO SHOW Benefits include … Easy to schedule Easy to edit Less preparation You have full control over the content Drawbacks include … More difficult to grow, because there is no guest to co-promote The content is all on you AN INTERVIEW Benefits include … Guest helps create the content You don't need to be the expert on everything You have another person to promote your show Interview swaps are possible There is someone to talk to on the show Drawbacks include … Need to find guests that fit More difficult to schedule Lots of solicitation from potential guests that don't fit your audience It is tricky to find ways to promote yourself when you are interviewing others CO-HOSTS Benefits include … Someone to talk to There are two people to do the work and share the duties Content ideas come from multiple people Easier to be engaging with someone in front of you Drawbacks include … You need different personalities Difficult to schedule Balance of duties Who owns the show if you split CROWDSOURCED Benefits include … Much more engaging with differing points of view Highly entertaining when produced correctly Sounds like a top notch show with the variety of audio Drawbacks include … Takes time to find material If you solicit your audience for content, you need to get people to submit Requires more time to edit OPTIONS Those are just four of the ways you can structure your podcast. You could have episodes where guest contributors appear for a segment offering additional content. Repurposing your live presentations is another option. The best part is that you don't have to pick just one. You can use a consistent format and then drop in others when it makes sense. On this show, I typically bring you a solo show. However, there are times when I have a guest here for an interview. It isn't one size fits all. Dave Jackson at School of Podcasting typically does a solo show. There are times when he does an interview. He also does a crowdsourced show once a month. Dan Miller at 48 Days Podcast is usually a solo show answering listener questions. But there are times when he brings on a guest for a very special interview. Pick the flavor that works for you. Then, change it when the time is right. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

When you go through a podcast launch, there are pitfalls to avoid. Creating a strategy for your show early is a critical piece to ensure your podcast helps attract your ideal clients and drives your business. On this episode, I want to take you through a launch case study to help you discover a few things you might tighten up with your show. LAUNCH If you do not have a podcast yet, you could launch in a weekend. I am holding a 3-day workshop that will get your podcast launched in a weekend. During this workshop, you will discover how to build a solid podcast that will attract your ideal listeners. You won't just learn how to record, edit and publish your podcast. I will take your hand and walk you through it during this workshop. You will learn how to properly conduct interviews that will benefit you. We will create your marketing strategy to grow your audience. By the end of the weekend, you will refine your personality to create engaging entertainment that will attract your ideal clients. If you would like to launch your podcast in 3 days, enroll at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/start. This 3-day workshop happens Friday through Sunday, July 16th through the 18th. You will publish your podcast by the end of the workshop. STRATEGY Your podcast can be a powerful tool when you are trying to attract your ideal clients. You need to decide how your podcast fits into your plan. I like to start with the end in mind. Let's say you are a coach looking to attract clients. How might your podcast bring those potential clients into the top of your funnel. Well, you need to decide what your funnel looks like before you can answer that questions. How do you enroll clients? You could use a webinar. Strategy or discovery calls is an option. Clients could discover you by seeing you on a summit or stage. They might hear you on another podcast. Once those potential clients discover you, where do they go for more information? This is where you send them to your lead magnet or directly to your podcast. I like sending people to a lead magnet first. Let's capture their information so we can invite them to listen to the podcast. If you invite them to your podcast while giving an interview on another show, you get one opportunity to invite. If you invite them to grab your lead magnet, you can then use your e-mail to invite them to listen many times. Once they begin listening to your podcast, they begin to know what you are all about. They can decide if they like how you teach and what you have to offer. Your podcast is all about building report with your listeners. On your show, you can offer listeners more help and opportunities to get what you have to offer. When the time is right for them, they can sign up to work with you as a coach and become a client. This is the sort of process you need to develop if you want to use your podcast to grow your business. Start with the end in mind and determine how your podcast fits into that strategy. LAUNCH CASE STUDY Sadie came to me to launch her podcast "Meathead Test Kitchen" with her co-host Sausha. They wanted to create a show around their healthy eating and workout products. Demonstrating your products, courses and books is a great way to make money with your podcast. This is like a weekly webinar, but your prospects actually subscribe to it. How great is that? Your listeners ask for it every week! Give them a sample of your stuff. Then, tell them where to buy it. This is like a long infomercial for your stuff without the slimy feel. You are offering help and showing your ideal clients how to get more. Do you have a book or course you could demonstrate on your show? Your own little home shopping network … and your ideal clients are subscribing. This is what Sadie and Sausha do on the Meathead Test Kitchen podcast. Sadie followed my Podcast Fast Blueprint to launch her show in 30 days. Now, they demonstrate products and direct people to their website to buy them. Some of these products are their own products. Some are affiliate products. On this episode, we talk to Sadie about her launch experience, how she is growing her show and using it to build her business. Enjoy. WORKSHOP If you do not have a podcast yet, you could launch in a weekend. Join us for a 3-day workshop that will get your podcast launched in a weekend. During this workshop, you will discover how to build a solid podcast that will attract your ideal listeners. You won't just learn how to record, edit and publish your podcast. I will take your hand and walk you through it during this workshop. You will learn how to properly conduct interviews that will benefit you. We will create your marketing strategy to grow your audience. By the end of the weekend, you will refine your personality to create engaging entertainment that will attract your ideal clients. If you would like to launch your podcast in 3 days, enroll at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/start. This 3-day workshop happens Friday through Sunday, July 16th through the 18th. You will publish your podcast by the end of the workshop. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/start. Join us for the 3-day workshop and get your podcast launched in a weekend.

If you hope to use your podcast to grow your business, you need a podcast strategy. Randomly creating shows will get you random results. Define your goal. Develop the plan to get there. Then focus. TRAINING I will be holding a free training called "How To Make Money With A Free Podcast … Without Ads and Sponsorships." This is the exact step-by-step process to grow your audience, attract your ideal customers and clients, and make money with your podcast. You can join us for free. Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth On this training you are going to discover: How to create a successful podcast using your personality Why some podcasts don't make money and how to avoid those pitfalls How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode And more! Register for free at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth. NO STRATEGY When I first started coaching podcasters, I developed the Powerful Profitable Podcasts system. Unfortunately, it didn't work. This was system and process designed to get podcasters from idea to monetization. It was built with seven sections and a few dozen modules. Powerful Profitable Podcasts started with the magic of audio. This covered theater of the mind and your why. The system helped podcasters design their foundation. This included your strategy, solution and structure. It was program that covered everything. The system taught show prep, reviewing your show to get better and monetizing your efforts. Powerful Profitable Podcasts went from A to Z, soup to nuts. It was everything you need to do to create a profitable show. So, why did it fail? Nobody wanted everything. Podcasters don't want to solve every problem. They only want to solve their problem. That is when I started to do some market research and focus on specific problem. I took the system and broke it into parts. Instead of teaching the whole system, I now teach individual parts of the system within a podcast content strategy. YOUR STRATEGY There are three steps to designing your strategy. First, determine your process. How do you help your listeners? Next, brainstorm frequent questions for each step that your listeners might be asking. Finally, identify a lead magnet or additional help for each question. This assumes you have built a follow-up system that gets to your offer. This could be your e-mail follow-up sequence or one-on-one discovery call. You have the contact info of your listener. Now, follow up and offer more help. This process also works with interviews. Who can you interview as a case study or as a compliment to each question? With an interview podcast, start by working backwards. When you land a guest for your show, work backward to determine how the interview fits within your podcast content strategy. If the interview won't fit in the strategy, you shouldn't be doing the interview. Interviews must benefit the listener, the guest and you. If it isn't win-win-win, you should politely decline. MY STRATEGY Let me show you how this would work with my show. My Audience Explosion Blueprint process is three steps. Your programming, promotion and personality. Don't make it harder than it needs to be. That process consists of six steps. Those steps are your podcast platform, content creation, popularity factor, influence roadmap, money plan and raving fans. I now want to create episodes around each of those steps. QUESTIONS What questions would my ideal listener ask regarding those steps? Podcast platform – What is the best way to structure my show? Content creation – How can I create content that gets my listeners to engage? Popularity factor (discovery) – How can I grow my audience? Influence roadmap (personality) – How can I make my show different from everyone else? Why would anyone listen to me? Money plan – How can I make money with a free podcast? Raving fans (story) – How do I get people to keep listening? LEAD MAGNETS Podcast Platform – Podcast Show Clock Worksheet – Episode 288 How To Structure Your Podcast. Content creation – 17 Of The Most Powerful Podcast Interview Questions Ever – Episode 331 Interviewing Secrets – 75 Ways To Drive Engagement With Your Podcast – Episode 341 Get Your Listeners To Engage. Popularity factor – Collaborate – Episode 334 Double Your Audience. Influence roadmap – Podcast Review Show and Personality Development Worksheet – Episode 310 How To Develop Your Podcast Personality. Money plan – 6 Ways To Make Money With A Free Podcast – Episode 281 The Podcast Profit Roadmap. Raving Fans – Story Development Worksheet – Episode 130 Can You Tell Stories Like Walt Disney? CONTENT CREATION STRATEGY Now, my podcast episodes offer my listeners help with a specific problem. Each episode directs you to a lead magnet that will give you additional help with that problem. The e-mail sequence will then offer you additional help. I will then give you a chance to get even more help by working with me. It is all part of a strategy. This week, look at your process. Begin developing your strategy to take your listener from content to client. JOIN US Come join my on my new training called "How To Make Money With A Free Podcast … Without Ads and Sponsorships." This is the exact step-by-step process to grow your audience, attract your ideal customers and clients, and make money with your podcast. This is the process I use. I will teach it to you in this training. You can join us for free. Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth. On this training you are going to discover: How to create a successful podcast using your personality Why some podcasts don't make money and how to avoid those pitfalls How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode And more! Register for free at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

There are three important steps to growing your downloads. The three steps are awareness, attraction and retention. I like to call it promotion, programming and personality. Today, I want to help you grow your downloads by focusing on promotion. TRAINING I will be holding a free training called "How To Make Money With A Free Podcast … Without Ads and Sponsorships." This is the exact step-by-step process to grow your audience, attract your ideal customers and clients, and make money with your podcast. You can join us for free. Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth. On this free training you are going to discover: How to create a successful podcast using your personality Why some podcasts don't make money and how to avoid those pitfalls How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode And more! Register for free at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth. DOWNLOADS Before you can make money with your podcast, you need to grow your audience. You don't necessarily need a big audience. To drive your business, you need the right audience. Less than 7% of all podcasts have an audience large enough to attract big sponsors and advertisers. There are much better ways to monetize your podcast. Many people believe sponsorships and advertising are the only ways to make money with a podcast. Untrue. In fact, you shouldn't clutter up your show with ads. Instead, use your podcast as a powerful marketing tool for your business. Podcasting is huge. You have incredible power in front of you. Let me show you some numbers. There are just under 2 million podcasts today. On the other hand, there are over 600 Million blogs and more than 1.3 billion YouTube videos. Where do you want to compete? Podcast search engine Listen Notes reports there were 246,782 podcast debuts in 2019 alone. Today, more than 90 million people in the U.S.— approximately 32% of the U.S. population over the age of 12 — have listened to a podcast in the past month according to Edison Research. According to The Nielsen Company, the total podcast audience is growing at a compound average growth rate of 20%. And that could mean the overall audience for the medium could double within the next five years. Now is the time to stake your claim in your niche. Get noticed and build your audience. Let's talk about why many podcasts don't make money. There are a 6 reasons podcasts don't make money or attract clients. Let me give you the big two. You already know that ads and sponsorships are a tough sell, especially if you are not in the top 7%. If you are part of the other 93%, how can you make money? It's all about the right audience. WHAT ARE YOU SELLING? The first issue most podcasters face is you don't have anything to sell. When podcasters contact me for coaching, our first step is a podcast strategy session. During that call, we define goals and the strategy to achieve those goals. Though the questions vary, one seems to consistently come up. "How can I make money with my podcast?" I ask, "What are you selling?" Can your listeners currently give you money for anything? As coaches and content creators, you probably have something to sell. You just need more people to buy it. ARE YOU ASKING? The second problem is you are not asking for the sale Podcasters say, "Yeah, Erik. I have a course for sale. Nobody is buying it." Have you told anyone about it? One of my buddies has a great course available. I had known him for six months before I knew anything about it. Once you build your rapport through your podcast, the "yes" should become a formality if you actually ask for the sale and help your listener succeed. THE RIGHT DOWNLOADS The big challenge is the audience. You need to find an audience full of your ideal clients. When I started building my e-mail list, I developed multiple lead magnets that would help my podcast audience. I then offered those on my show. My list grew nicely. My downloads grew as well. Before too long, I had about 500 people on my e-mail list. My show was getting about 200 downloads an episode. Then it happened. I hit that plateau. Has that happened to you? My downloads stopped growing. What I discovered was what worked yesterday doesn't necessarily work today. That doesn't mean you need to chase the next big thing. It simply means you need multiple streams of traffic. That's when I discovered my ability to diversify my traffic. I participated in a few gift giveaways. My list doubled. My downloads grew as well. Then I gave a few presentations on summits and did a few podcast interviews. My downloads ended up doubling in a few months. If you want to grow your downloads, find ways to get in front of your ideal audience. MULTIPLE STREAMS You should not try everything at once. Pick 3 that you enjoy and can do well. My former coach Marc Mawhinney calls this his three pillars. What three traffic sources are you going to use to reach your ideal clients and potential listeners? You could use stages. By stages I don't only mean physical stages. The term stage refers to any platform where you can speak in front of a group of people. Stages could include real stages. It also includes podcasts, radio shows, summits, webinars, Facebook lives and other speaking opportunities. You could also use social media as a strategy. Be active in groups. Gift giveaways are a great way to reach new people. This is where a group of similar experts team up to provide a bunch of valuable free gifts to their e-mail lists. In a gift giveaway, each expert contributes a gift. All experts typically e-mail their list a few times and post on social media inviting people to get the gifts. When people opt in for your gift, they are added to your e-mail list. Gift giveaways are a great way to build your list and reach a new audience. YOUR LIST Building your e-mail list is a great way to start the relationship with your listener. By e-mailing your list with valuable resources and information, you build your credibility and trust. You need to serve when you e-mail. Send information your listeners can use. When I send my daily e-mail, it always contains a tip or piece of information my listeners can use. This varies from content to growth to monetization. Every e-mail begins with something my listeners can use. The tip is typically followed by an opportunity to go deeper and get even more help. Sometimes this is from me. Other times it is from one of my partners. My e-mails are rarely 100% focused on sales. There is always value. If I only send sales e-mail or only send when I have a pitch, people stop opening my e-mails. I understand your inbox is valuable. Therefore, I deliver value. MONETIZATION If you want to monetize your podcast, it all begins with building the right audience. You need to find ways to promote yourself to new listeners. Continuing to market to the same pool will not help you grow. Find new fans. Once you find listeners, find ways to help them. Then, keep them coming back again and again. Those are the three steps. Promotion, programming and personality. JOIN US Come join my on my new training called "How To Make Money With A Free Podcast … Without Ads and Sponsorships." This is the exact step-by-step process to grow your audience, attract your ideal customers and clients, and make money with your podcast. This is the process I use. I will teach it to you in this training. You can join us for free. Register at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth. On this training you are going to discover: How to create a successful podcast using your personality Why some podcasts don't make money and how to avoid those pitfalls How to attract your ideal clients with your podcast How to keep listeners coming back episode after episode And more! Register for free at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/growth. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

Many podcasters ask me how to get more listener interaction with their show. How can you get more listener feedback and comments? They are looking for ways to grow their podcast engagement. We need to transform your information into engaging entertainment. When your content is engaging, people take notice and take action. If you want your listeners to interact more with your show, make your content engaging. You can download the list at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/engage. The one struggle that I hear most often is the desire to gain more engagement. How do we get more listeners? How do I increase my download numbers? How to I create more engagement? The problem may be worded differently, but the struggle is the same. Are you making the problem more difficult than it needs to be? The solution is easy to understand, yet difficult to execute properly. Through all of my research and years of experience in both radio and podcasting, I've discovered a few key steps to create interaction. This week, let's cover 7 steps to create more podcast engagement with your listeners. Some of these steps may sound a little too simplistic. Just remember … don't make it harder than it needs to be. Step back and ask yourself if you are truly executing on each step to the fullest. ASK 1. Ask Them To Engage How do you expect them to know you want them to be part of your show if you don't ask? Be sure to make your request specific. Tell your listener exactly what you want her to do. If you want your listener to e-mail you or leave a voice message, tell them how to do that. Tell them where to go and what to do. When you want more podcast engagement, you need to ask for it. EASY 2. Make It Easy To Engage You may use social media, your website, an e-mail address, voicemail, or a number of other methods to reach you. Simplify it. Create one contact page on your website containing the info to avoid the need for a laundry list during your show. Then, always provide that one contact source. By using that one source, you also prevent your listener from getting caught in the decision paradox. If someone must decide which options to choose, they will choose to do neither. It is much safer to make no choice than to make the wrong choice. Don't put them in that situation. Make the questions specific, so they don't have to think. Give your listener a question to answer or specific piece of information to provide. If he isn't forced to be creative and "work" to create content for your show, you will have more success creating podcast engagement. DEMONSTRATE 3. Show Them How To Engage Give examples of podcast engagement. Show your listeners what you want them to do. If you want people to leave you voice messages, play some examples on the show. When your listener hears others asking questions or giving opinions, they will know exactly what to do. On the radio, we always had trouble getting the first call. Nobody wants to be first. We would set up the first call with someone who called about something completely different. If we wanted to get into a conversation about best movie theater, we would set it up. When someone called to request a song, we would ask them the question. Then, we would play that call to demonstrate to others what we wanted. Prime the pump to get more podcast engagement. REWARD 4. Reward Podcast Engagement What do your listeners get by engaging? What is it in for them? Reward listeners who engage. This doesn't need to be a gift or physical reward. You could acknowledge them on the show or highlight their journey. Rewarding your active listeners can take many forms. SUPERFANS 5. Use Superfans Reach out to your superfans to begin the podcast engagement. They are more likely to engage than others. Use this to your advantage. Connect with three or four to start the engagement. When your superfans start the conversation, others will follow. NAMES 6. Use Their Name Know your frequent listeners by name and use their name often. Like Dale Carnegie says in "How To Win Friends And Influence People", there is no sweeter sound than the sound of one's name. Jon and Dave and Regina listen to my show each week. They support my show and all I do. Find those frequent listeners for your show and mention them. HIGHLIGHT 7. Highlight Members Highlight a member of your community or audience on each show. If you want more members and more engagement, highlight a member each week. Rather than simply acknowledging them, do a full feature on them. You might even invite them on the show and coach them. Really shine the spotlight on a member and it will pay off when they share it. Here are two bonus ideas ... SHARE 8. Share Tips Have listeners share a tip of the week. Creating a crowd sourced show is a powerful way to create podcast engagement. Dave Jackson at School of Podcasting does this as the final episode each month. He has a question of the month. He then tells people exactly how to leave their answer. For the final episode of the month, he combines all of the answers into a show. TEXT 9. Text Let listeners text to make it easier. When podcast engagement is easy, engagement goes up. We would often be told to get more callers on the radio during our show. Unfortunately, people would rather text than call. It's a way of life today. If your listeners are in the habit of texting, find a way to allow them to text you. Make it easy. TIP SHEET Would you like 75 ways to drive podcast engagement and grow your audience? You can get my list at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/engage. You will get ideas to engage your audience with your content. There are tips to increase your podcast downloads. There are also ways to encourage your listener to visit your website. You can download the list at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/engage. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

On this episode, I want to teach you how to create powerful podcast interviews like the pros. There are a few adjustments you can make to create a better interview. REASONS There are many reasons we interview guests on our podcasts. They are content experts They know more than we do Guests add depth to the conversation Interviews can expose your show to others Interviews can cross-promote your products Guests add additional content to your show If you are like me when I started, you probably feel a bit overwhelmed. I felt like I was a kid playing dress-up. Did I really belong with the professional interviewers? I wasn't big time. Impostor syndrome was definitely kicking in. You can learn how to be be more confident and create a better interview. We can avoid making fools of ourselves We can battle the impostor syndrome We can look smarter by surrounding ourselves with smarter people With just a few adjustments, you can take your podcast interview to a whole new level. Here are 7 tweaks you can make this week to deliver a better interview. BIO 1. You give their bio, not the guest. When you open the episode, it is your responsibility to provide your audience with the background of your guest. You know what the audience needs. Your guest is not familiar with your ideal target listener. The guest doesn't know what your audience needs to know to put the conversation in context. If you start the questions with "tell us a little about yourself", you guest has no idea where to start. She might begin with growing up in a small town and working in her mom's store. What does this have to do with your show? Introduce your guest with the details your audience needs to understand how the conversation will benefit them. Give your audience a reason to listen. Why did you invite your guest on the show? Begin there. STANDARD 2. Avoid the standard questions. If you want your interviews to stand out, ask unique questions. Avoid all of the standard questions every other interviewer asks. There are times when the guest will send you a list of potential questions. When you follow the script, you become common. Use those questions to create some great questions of your own. Standard questions result in standard answers. If you want a better interview, ask better questions. SET UP 3. Set up the question and then ask. Last week I made a trek to pick up my daughter from college and bring her home for the summer. On that 3-day drive, we were able to listen to quite a few podcasts. On one particular show, the host was interviewing a former wrestling star. The host is a big wrestling fan. Each time the host would ask a question, he would follow it with a bunch of framing. He would ask something like, "How do you find places to hold your seminars?" It was a solid question for the interview. Unfortunately, he followed it with a bunch of examples and what he would do to find speaking opportunities. When you follow your question with a bunch of framing, your guest forgets the question. Your listener forgets, too. Set up the question. Tell a little of your story. Then end with the question. LESS YOU 4. A little of you and a lot of them. That brings us to the fourth tip. Tell your story, but only a little bit. This is a fine line. You want to demonstrate a little of your authority. But, you want to make your guest the star. Give a little bit of yourself. This should only be 2 or 3 sentences. Your story could be part of your framing. Shine the spotlight on your guest. When they look good, you look good. LISTEN 5. Listen to the answers and ask great follow-up questions. So many podcasters are too concerned with their list of questions. They want to get through each question on their sheet. Stop worrying about your list and listen to the answers. When you listen, you will come up with great follow-up questions. That is where the magic lies. You really only need a few great questions. Use follow-up questions and you have a better interview. YES/NO 6. No yes/no questions. The sixth tip … You want to avoid yes/no questions. Questions that can be answered with yes or no, or can be answered with one or two words, the momentum of your interview dies. The conversation comes to a screeching halt. As open-ended questions that allow your guest to elaborate. STORIES 7. Get your guests to tell stories. That leads into the final tip. Get your guest to tell stories. Everything interesting is about people. When your guest tells stories, you develop a plot. It's a beginning, middle and end. Your interview becomes engaging. When your guest tells stories, your listener gets emotionally involved. As humans, we have learned through stories for centuries. Stories will transform your interviews in a powerful way. You will always have a better interview when you use stories. LIST If you want to supercharge your interviews, grab my 17 Ultimate Podcast Interview Questions. Get it at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/interview. We interview to give more depth and voice to our content. The goal of these questions is to create inspiration and connection between the listener, the interviewee and you. Your guests will begin telling you stories you haven't heard them tell any other interviewer. You will hear things from your guests like "This was a really fun interview." You will be unique and stand out from the crowd. It is my 17 Ultimate Podcast Interview Questions. Get it at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/interview and start building your better interview. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

On the show today, I want to give you a few podcast examples that will help you in various areas of your show. These are podcasts that I feel do many things well that you can model. We will also talk about a few of my past episodes. After over 330 podcast episodes, you and I have discussed quite a few topics. I looked at my stats the other day and pulled up my 6 most popular shows. If you are looking for the episodes that have had the most impact, you can give these a listen to help you on your podcast journey as well. You can find a link to all of these podcasts in the show notes at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/examples. THE BEST Picking the best is always subjective. What I like you may not. That's the great thing about podcasting. If you don't like one host or show, you can probably find a dozen other shows on the same subject. The quality of podcast examples depends on the niche and your tastes. Just like radio formats. One size definitely does NOT fit all. I will give you a few that I feel do well in particular areas. You can take a listen and decide for yourself. INTERVIEWS In terms of hosts that conduct solid interviewers, there are three that I really like. Malcolm Gladwell on Broken Record does great interviews, though he isn't the only host of the show. The show is sort of album liner notes come to life. Broken Record brings you conversations with artists in a world without liner notes for a new audience of music lovers. Michael O'Neal on the Solopreneur Hour podcast is a great interviewer. He creates real conversations. They can sometimes be a bit long. Solopreneur Hour is a podcast of lively conversations, candid insights and bold advice for proudly unemployable people who are primed for real prosperity and fulfillment. Michael talks with the best and brightest solopreneurs from all walks of life. Barbara Corcoran has a lot of fun with her inteviews on Business Unusual. You know Barbara from Shark Tank. She reminds me of my mom and has tons of fun. I really like the older episodes before COVID hit. Her conversations with listeners were a lot more engaging. In the description, Barbara says, "Life is too short to waste your time practicing someone else's fancy theory on success. I give you the straight talk and the confidence to get there." Though I'm not a big fan, Howard Stern does amazing interviews. He usually asks exactly what the listener is thinking. CO-HOSTS When it comes to co-hosts, you need to ensure hosts have different personalities and opinions. If both are the same, one of them isn't necessary. Matthew and Elysha Dicks host Speak Up Storytelling podcast. This is a great example of co-hosts who compliment each other quite well. Unlike most storytelling podcasts, which offer you one or more outstanding stories to listen to and enjoy, this podcast seeks to entertain while also providing some specific, actionable lessons on storytelling. Screw The Nine To Five podcast is hosted by husband and wife team of Jill and Josh Stanton. They are real, sometime brash and always funny. This is a great example of two personalities really playing off each other. They have the same goal, but different approaches. BUSINESS Shane Sams on the Flipped Lifestyle podcast does a great job at giving you ideas you can actually use. This isn't just tips and tricks found on the internet. Shane has done it. The thing I love about Shane's podcast is that he promotes his membership site and courses without being over-the-top salesy. This is a great example of using your show to drive your business without being a total infomercial. Marc Mawhinney hosts the Natural Born Coaches podcast. He helps coaches. Pretty obvious. Love the title. Marc uses his podcast to boost his JV relationships. He is typically interviewing experts in the online space. They provide great information. At the end of most episodes, they invite you to a webinar. This is a great example of leveraging interviews to drive revenue. SOLO One of the best solo shows I listen to is 48 Days To The Work You Love with Dan Miller. Dan spends 48 minutes every week answering questions. He is engaging and captivating having a conversation directly with you while doing it all on his own. Dave Jackson over at School of Podcasting also does a solid solo show. Carrying a show by yourself and connecting with the listener isn't easy. Dave does it every week. If you're looking for another great show about podcasting, check out Dave. Let's get into the six most popular episodes of Podcast Talent Coach. YOUR VOICE The first is Like Your Voice – PTC223. "I hate the way I sound." I hear that complaint quite often. Many people do not like the sound of their own voice. It is quite common. It is also quite natural to dislike the sound of you own voice when hearing a recorded version of it. When you talk, the bones in your head vibrate adding to the qualities you naturally hear. When you hear a recording of your voice, those vibrations are absent causing your voice to sound different to you. The natural bone vibrations also make you do some unnecessary acrobatics with your voice when using headphones. The bone vibrations combined with the enclosed nature of your headphones cause you to hear the big announcer voice in a much different way the listener hears it. You tend to speak in ways you don't normally speak in everyday conversation. The thing we fear most is not death but humiliation. Listeners can tell in the first few words if you are excited and in the zone. Your inner critic never congratulates you. There are seven steps you can take to make your voice sound more natural and get you on the path to enjoying the sound of your voice. You will discover all seven in this episode. DOWNLOADS The next is How To Increase Your Downloads – PTC209. Most of us want to grow our audience, increase downloads and become more influential in our niche. I recently conducted a survey asking about your biggest challenges with regard to your podcast. The most frequent response revolved around ways to increase podcast downloads. If you were to list your top three struggles with your show, would one hurdle you list be getting more listeners and engagement? When podcasters reach out to me for their free strategy session, I ask them how I might help with their podcast. Promoting the show, gaining listeners and increasing podcast downloads is most always part of the answer. You are not alone. We all want a bigger audience. Whether you have 100 listeners or 10,000 listeners, I'm sure you would like a few more. There are 6 steps to growing your audience. You can hear it in episode 209. YOU'RE AN EXPERT Next is 3 Ways To Position Yourself As An Expert – PTC227. Once when I was grabbing a quick bite to eat at the local fast food restaurant, I was reminded we are all an expert at something to someone. After ordering my food, I pulled up to the drive thru window of the fast food restaurant to pay. My total came to $4.38. I handed the kid in the window $5.38. The amount completely puzzled him. He looked at the currency for quite some time. I was beginning to think he didn't realize I needed change. After what seemed like two minutes, he looked around for his manager. When he realized his manager was helping another customer, he looked back at the money trying to devise a plan B. The kid finally stuck his head into the window and asked, "Are you good at math?" I said, "The total was $4.38, right?" He replied with, "Yeah." I said, "You owe me a dollar." "Oh, that's what I thought," he replied with relief as he ducked to the register to retrieve my dollar. At that point, I realized we are all an expert to somebody. Even people who do not normally deal in American currency could probably guess that $5.38 minus $4.38 equals $1. To this kid, I looked like a genius. You may not feel you are an expert in your niche, because you don't have the experience or success equal to others. Just realize you have more experience than the beginner. You are always a few steps ahead of someone else. If you think about where you were two years ago, you are much more experienced than a person in that position now. Help those folks make the two-year journey to get to the point where you are now. There are 3 Ways To Become An Expert In Your field. We discuss them in episode 227. LAUNCH The next episode is What Do You Need To Start A Podcast – PTC248. It seems so overwhelming. Launching a podcast looks so technical and confusing. What do you need to start a podcast? It really is much easier than it appears. You can truly have a show up and running in four weeks. When I was launching my podcast, I had been in radio for a couple decades. I knew how to create a great show. What I didn't know was how to get it on the internet, on Apple Podcasts and out to the world. I knew how to create an .mp3, but how do I make that .mp3 an actual podcast? I watched a ton of YouTube videos. It felt like the more I watched, the more confused I became. It seemed everyone had their opinions without a real "right" answer. I had almost too many options. Which were the best? In episode 248, we cover the six easy steps to follow to get your podcast up and running. Don't overthink it. Done is much better than working for perfection. ATTENTION The next most popular episode of Podcast Talent Coach is How To Capture Attention – PTC219. Have you noticed a lot of the business interview podcasts sound the same? We are hearing the same guests answer the same questions time and time again. How do you become unique in this sea of sameness? Storytelling can transform your podcast. I was on a coaching call with Arman the other day. He is a great public speaker who is launching a podcast to compliment his business. Arman has a knack for telling stories in his speeches. His past life experiences create compelling tales. We were discussing the power of stories in his show. There is a subtle difference between telling stories in a speech and telling stories in a podcast. During a speech, few people will get up and leave if you don't hold their attention. While listening to a podcast, if you are captivating, there is a good chance your listener will go find something else to enjoy. There is no guilt in turning you off. Therefore, you need to capture their attention right out of the box and hold it. Stories can be a powerful tool with your podcast. People do business with people they know, like and trust. Stories help you develop that knowledge, likability and trust. Your stories define you and will touch many more people. The stories you tell and the details you include reveal many things about you. That begins to develop that like and trust. Stories help you connect, motivate and inspire. There are four parts to the storytelling structure. We cover those in episode 219. COACHING The episode that was the most popular for the longest time is Behind The Scenes Of A Podcast Coaching Session – PTC204. Dave Jackson and I reviewed the Jeep Talk Show on the Podcast Review Show. Tony Muckleroy, one of the hosts of the show, reached out to me for a follow up review. On this episode, I take you behind the scenes of that coaching session to show you how things work. It is my hope there are a few things in this session that might help you improve your show. Tony hosts the Jeep Talk Show with his two co-hosts Josh and Tammy. They started the podcast about 8 years ago. The primary reason Tony reached out for coaching is audience growth. Their show has plateaued around 1,700 downloads a month. Tony is hoping to discover how they might increase their audience and grow the show. During our coaching session, Tony and I discuss the points Dave Jackson and I made on the Podcast Review Show, the progress the hosts have made toward those points and where they might go from here. Jeep Talk Show has some passionate followers. The team posted our coaching session as an episode of their podcast. It is Tony's hope that sharing the session with his audience might get listeners to provide the show with additional feedback. This episode features the coaching session with Tony and his show. It was episode 204. LISTEN There you go. 15 different episodes that you can check out and use to overcome some of your struggles. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.